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Images from Ovis Loop, College Football 26, and OFF are arranged in an image.

College Football 26 And 4 Great Games We Can’t Wait To Play

by admin August 18, 2025

Summer may be drawing to a close, but here on the east coast, we’ve had a few brutally hot days lately to give us one last reminder of the season at its worst. Thankfully we can prioritize staying indoors, hopefully enjoying some air conditioning, and definitely doing plenty of gaming now that we’re officially at the end of the week.

Perhaps you, too, find yourself with a spare 48 hours to kill and a craving for some gaming time well-spent? Well, should that be the case, we have some recommendations for you. Come check them out.

Ovis Loop

Play it on: Windows PCs
Current goal: Defeat the Youngest Botanist

“Dead Cells meets Cult of the Lamb” is the pitch for Ovis Loop, a new pixel art animated action-roguelike that arrived in Early Access on Steam this week. While it doesn’t quite rise to the heights of either of those indie tentpoles, it’s definitely a better-than-expected one-of-those so far. You play a mechanical sheep trying to defend its flock from increasingly difficult cyber-wolf boss fights. The rhythm and balance of upgrades has been enticing so far, and the 2D combat controls tightly enough. But the real star of the show is the beautiful sci-fi art with levels that feel straight out of a post-apocalyptic Mega Man X. I’m excited to play more and see where LIFUEL can take Ovis Loop on its Early Access journey. – Ethan Gach

Off

Play it on: Switch, Windows PC
Current goal: Reach Zone 2

Off is a sort of spiritual precursor to Undertale that was developed by a tiny Belgian team called Unproductive Fun Time in 2008 using RPG Maker. The incredibly unconventional puzzle role-playing game has you take control of a character named The Batter as they try to purify the world by battling the four specters haunting its different zones. There are turn-based battles, esoteric conversations with NPCs, and plenty of weird mysteries to solve.

I never played the original, even after it got a sanctioned fan translation in the early 2010s, but the cult indie classic has returned nearly two decades later with an unlikely remake from the gaming merchandise company Fangamer. Imagine if Salvador Dalí hallucinated an 8-bit Final Fantasy and you can get a sense of what Off brings to the table. Shockingly, the creators had never played Earthbound when making it. Making a Mother-like happened completely by accident. – Ethan Gach

Silent Hill

Play it on: PS3 (Seriously, the digital version is kinda the only way to easily play it right now)
Current goal: Try not to be so terrified 26 years later

I often credit Final Fantasy VII and Metal Gear Solid with being the very reason I’m still playing video games. They taught me something valuable about the power of this medium, and it resonated with me throughout countless chapters of my life.

But you know, there was another game around the same time that also left an impression on me, though I don’t think a whole lot about it. Part of that is because I only ever experienced it on a demo disc (remember those?) and even that brief test was enough to scare me out of my god damn childhood mind. Unlike the capable cop protagonists of Resident Evil 2, Silent Hill’s Harry Mason was just an ordinary guy. Being uniquely vulnerable to the freaks that stalk the game’s titular town, the ever-present gray fog, and those dark, empty school hallways…no. Just no. I couldn’t back then.

But now, I think I’m ready. There’s a new Silent Hill around the corner, and this series is one that I never played a whole lot of outside of that demo back in the late ‘90s and Silent Hill 4: The Room on the OG Xbox. It’s time to remedy that, and probably give myself a few nightmares in the process. – Claire Jackson

College Football 26

Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S
Current goal: Find an online dynasty that’s right for me

In April, I wrote about buying College Football 25 nine months after its release and humbling a much more experienced trash talker. Well, College Football 26 dropped in July, and last night, I was the trash talker who got humbled, meaning I’ll be spending this weekend and many more locking in and trying to improve.

It all started when a homie of mine, Armon, told me about a league he was a part of in College Football 26’s online dynasty mode, a multiplayer feature in the game that allows people to build teams and compete against each other for National Championships. Still a relative rookie and having only played randos in the lawlessness of Road To The CFP, I was shocked at how many rules my friend’s league had.

Cooldowns on offensive and defensive plays, limitations on how many hot routes you can make per play, a three-second wait for when QBs are allowed to scramble out of the pocket, mandatory Twitch or YouTube streams so people can see the plays that you’re calling—to a casual like me, the shit sounded downright draconian.

“I ain’t joining that North Korean dictatorial ass league lmao,” I texted Armon sometime after my record against him improved to 11-2. After beating him so many times, my feeling was that there was no way guys who compete with such restrictions could be any good, and that what was touted as being in the interest of fair play was actually meant to make the game easier for bums who can’t hang with skilled play-callers and ball-knowers—and I have never been more wrong about anything in my video gaming life.

“You’ve disrespected my league,” a guy named Cornell wrote to me on PSN. “You must be dealt with.” Armon arranged a head-to-head match between me and one of the best players in his league. Cornell didn’t take too kindly to my calling his boys a bunch of “hall monitors,” nor did he appreciate my saying they were on Twitch playing “surveillance state ball”—two objectively true and funny statements.

Cornell kicked my ass for those comments, completely disproving my assumption that this gentleman’s agreement league was filled with scrubs running from the grind. He was a better play-caller and ball-knower than I was or will be for quite some time. He bent his league’s own rules—apparently, “scrambling” outside the pocket and immediately “rolling out” 15 yards behind the line toward the furthest bench to work your receivers open are subtly different things, and hot routing half those receivers is fine so long as you’re not hot routing all of them (cool story, bro). But that’s not why he won both games we played. The man reads defenses so well that he scored nearly every time he touched the ball, and he’s so lethal when switch-sticking around his own defense that going TD for TD with him for a little while felt like an accomplishment.

After those games, it’s clear my next accomplishment has to be improving weaknesses that Cornell exposed: learning to read defenses and memorizing which route combos beat them, being unafraid to “user” defenders on the backside of my own defense, not being so reckless with the ball the second I fall behind, and, perhaps most importantly, not being so quick to judge people for the way they prefer to play. – Austin Williams

Is This Seat Taken?

Play it on: Switch, Windows PCs
Current goal: Enjoy this charming puzzler

When I first played the demo for Is This Seat Taken?, a puzzle game about organizing seating for cute little people made out of basic shapes, I was immediately hooked. The game’s charming visuals were a big part of what got my attention, but what kept me around for the whole demo was the puzzles. Turning the process of seat arrangement into a puzzle game is genius!

This person hates smelly things, this person needs to be at the front of the table, this person can’t stand kids, etc. We’ve all dealt with trying to get our family and/or friends seated in a way that makes everyone happy. It’s tricky, and Is This Seat Taken? turns it into a cute puzzle game that I’m excited to finally play all the way through this weekend. – Zack Zwiezen

And that wraps our picks for the end of the week. Happy gaming!

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August 18, 2025 0 comments

NFT Gaming

Adam Back’s $2.1B BTC Treasury Play Plans to Overtake MARA in BTC Holdings

by admin August 17, 2025

Bitcoin Standard Treasury Co. (BSTR), a bitcoin

treasury vehicle led by cryptography pioneer Adam Back, sees itself as a company with a mission to accelerate real-world bitcoin adoption.

But it might be setting out on another milestone: becoming one of the biggest corporate bitcoin holders.

The company, which is preparing to go public on Nasdaq by merging with Cantor Equity Partners (CEPO), already has 30,021 BTC on its balance sheet, with plans to grow its stack beyond 50,000 coins.

This will set it on the path of potentially overtaking MARA Holdings (MARA) as the second-largest corporate holder of BTC behind Strategy. MARA has more than 50,600 BTC, according to bitcointreasuries.net. Strategy has just under 629,000.

Currently, MSTR, MARA, and BSTR collectively hold roughly 710,000 bitcoin, which represents about 3.38% of bitcoin’s fixed supply of 21 million.

‘Liquidity, security, and scale’

Unlike some corporate treasuries that sit on bitcoin passively, BSTR intends to use techniques that include selling puts to accumulate BTC at lower prices, using bitcoin-backed revolvers and placing collateral with regulated tri-party custodians.

“We’re not interested in chasing DeFi yield or taking on counterparty risk we can’t manage. This is about liquidity, security, and scale,” Back said exclusively with CoinDesk. “Bitcoin was created as sound money and BSTR is being created to bring that same integrity to modern capital markets.”

The SPAC deal with Cantor combines, for the first time, traditional Wall Street financing with a bitcoin-denominated private placement of equity (PIPE).

In addition to 25,000 BTC contributed by the company’s founders, another 5,021 BTC will be raised from the bitcoin community.

The company is also raising up to $1.5 billion in fiat financing, the largest PIPE ever announced alongside a bitcoin treasury SPAC merger.

$400 million in common equity at $10 per share.
Up to $750 million in convertible senior notes (30% conversion premium, $13 per share).
Up to $350 million in convertible preferred stock with a 7% dividend and a $13 per share equivalent conversion price.

CEPO could add up to $200 million from its trust, subject to redemptions.

“By securing both fiat and bitcoin funding on day one, we are putting unprecedented firepower behind a single mission: maximizing bitcoin ownership per share while accelerating real-world bitcoin adoption,” Back said.

A first for bitcoin treasuries

The in-kind PIPE allows investors to deliver BTC at closing and potentially capture upside before settlement. Back said the approach was designed to appeal to both crypto-native players and traditional managers seeking exposure without waiting for post-close market buys.

The firm’s CIO Sean Bill, who previously helped a U.S. pension fund make one of the first institutional allocations to BTC, said the strategy resonated with traditional investors. “We’re building the Berkshire Hathaway (BRK) of Bitcoin, an actively managed Treasury that will pursue yield and alpha strategies, and strategic acquisitions within the Bitcoin ecosystem”.

“We’re flipping the script on Wall Street as we seek to fuse Bitcoin into Finance and Capital Markets, unlike other Treasury companies we’re not coming to Wall Street seeking fiat currency to buy Bitcoin, we’re showing up with a 25,000 Bitcoin commitment and more importantly we issued the first ever Bitcoin in kind Equity PIPE in the United States, raising another 5,021 Bitcoins from OG Bitcoiners. We’re brining the Bitcoin to Wall Street. We believe that the future of finance runs on Bitcoin”,” Bill told CoinDesk exclusively.

Bridging bitcoin and Wall Street

The leadership team sees BSTR as a bridge between the bitcoin ecosystem and institutional capital markets.

“We’re bringing the traders, we’re bringing the bitcoiners to Wall Street,” Back said, noting the potential for the U.S. market’s liquidity to amplify the success of bitcoin-denominated convertibles that have already gained traction in Europe.

The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter, with the company trading under the reserved ticker BSTR. If the raise is fully subscribed, the launch could set a new scale record for corporate bitcoin treasuries and offer a template for others looking to merge sound money with modern market instruments.

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August 17, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

WNBA players to play alongside NBA stars in NBA 2K26 MyTeam for the first time with new game mode announced

by admin August 17, 2025

Women’s NBA players are set to take the court alongside their male NBA counterparts in NBA 2K26’s MyTeam mode for the first time. WNBA players will appear in all MyTeam game modes, including the new Breakout: Gauntlet mode where players complete a series of matches where the difficulty gets harder and harder, but they can only use each card in the collection once.

WNBA players have been part of the dominant 2K franchise since the introduction of 12 WNBA teams in NBA 2K20. But it took another two years until NBA 2K22 for Candace Parker to become the first female cover star.

In-game, the Attributes and Badges for both NBA and WNBA players’ cards will “function identically”, which 2K hopes will give a “balanced, consistent gameplay experience no matter who is on the court”.

Watch on YouTube

This news comes after EA’s flagship sports game, EA Sports FC 26, announced four new female Icons joining its roster of legendary players in Ultimate Team. Male and female players have shared the pitch in FC Ultimate Team for the last couple of years in a move that’s been largely successful, if not without its difficulties.

Comparing the two sports franchises, it will be interesting to see how WNBA stars are balanced within the meta of 2K26 MyTeam, where EA Sports FC has struggled to keep all but very top-tier women’s players competitive – with some notable exceptions.

As well as new player cards there will also be a dedicated WNBA Domination tier, and you will be able to customize your team with every WNBA uniform and the entire league’s court floors.

NBA 2K26 will launch on September 5th, with Early Access starting on August 29th, for PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo consoles and PC.

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August 17, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

I thought Switch 2 would kill my Steam Deck, but it’s actually made me play it more

by admin June 26, 2025

In the days leading up to the Switch 2 launch I couldn’t help but feel sad for my Steam Deck. Once my pride and joy, a delight I’d take great pleasure in telling people about and even demonstrating, it had started to gather dust. I was about to enter the age of the Switch 2, and I didn’t think I needed two handhelds in my life. So certain I was of the Deck’s move down the pecking order, I even looked into how much I’d get for selling it. Goodbye my chunky boy, you served me well.

Steam Deck: Feb 2022 – June 2025.

June rolled around and I was, as predicted, Switch 2 enveloped. Mario Kart World every day, every evening, every weekend. Fast Fusion in-between, a bit of Welcome Tour, some Cyberpunk 2077. In my house the Switch 2 had quickly become the most-played console, with even my son choosing to play his mammoth Fortnite sessions on it instead of the Xbox (if you’ve not seen it on Switch 2, it’s a huge improvement over the game on OG Switch). My daughter, only four years old and not really able to play games yet, even felt the excitement, wanting to pose for a photo alongside the Switch 2 – not even the console, but the cardboard box it arrived in!

Wherever there’s a Switch 2 there’s Mario Kart World.Watch on YouTube

This kind of enamourment happens all the time, of course, but I really did get a wonderful sense of something new and exciting from the Switch 2, the kind you get when you just know you’re holding something supremely cool. Having something new that you like tends to make you want to do more with it. Something that happens to me all the time is how I might not touch a console for a while (let’s say, the PS5), but then a new game will arrive for it (Astro Bot was this game for me last year), and suddenly I’ve finished it and then find myself working through Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut and firing up whatever is on PS Plus.

With Switch 2 I experienced this but in a broader, playstyle sense. My time with the Switch 2 launch lineup had rewired my mind and I was back in handheld mode. In truth I’ve never been a huge fan of handhelds. Sure, I’ve loved and adored plenty of handheld games (Ridge Racer(s) on PSP is a standout, MotorStorm RC on Vita another gem), but I’d always opt for the console under the TV whenever I could and never felt comfortable playing ‘outside’. But Switch 2 fever has resulted in, sorry eBayers, a return of the Steam Deck.

Vampire Survivors. | Image credit: Poncle

Rather than sitting casually on the sofa with Switch 2 in hand, I started to reach for the Deck. 30 minutes of Vampire Survivors? Yes please. 20 minutes of end-game wandering in Tunic? Sure. Art of Rally before Escape to the Country and dreaming of an easier life? There’s time, the intro is generally just people repeatedly saying they want to move somewhere with more space for their dogs and somehow having a budget of £800k despite working in media. I’ve played on my Steam Deck more in the past week than I remember playing it at any moment since launch.

Tunic. | Image credit: Andrew Shouldice

I’m not going to look them all up so I’ll just assume most of these games are also on Switch and playable on Switch 2. That’s not really the point, unless you are keen for some game recommendations and only have a Switch 2 – so, OK, I did just check and all three of those games are supported on Switch 2, but aren’t necessarily any better on it compared to Switch. Great games, though. The point is that the Switch 2 has revitalised my interest in the Deck.

Thanks for that, Switch 2. I’m now back trawling through Steam sales to pick up bargains I’ll likely never play and tinkering with emulators, and still trying to fit in time with Mario Kart World. I have no idea how I’m going to cope once Donkey Kong Bananza arrives in a few weeks.

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June 26, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

How To Play The FF6 Deck

by admin June 24, 2025

Few video game moments are as impactful as the second half of Final Fantasy VI. The heroes have lost, and the only one who remains is Celes, who spends the rest of the game on a quest through a destroyed world to bring her allies back together.

Blasphemous 2 Developer Interview

While Magic: the Gathering can’t replicate this exactly, the designers were clearly inspired by Terra’s journey while developing her Commander deck. So let’s go over how to use her deck to defeat Kefka (and your friends) once and for all.

Revival Trance deck basics

The commander for this FFVI themed deck is “Terra, Herald of Hope.” She is a Red-, White- and Black-cost card with a Power and Life of three each. Her two abilities are “Trance” which lets you send the top two cards from your deck to the graveyard (called milling) and in return, Terra gains “Flying”, making her much more difficult to block. Her other ability allows her to pay two mana cost whenever she deals damage to an opponent to bring a creature with Power of three or less from the Graveyard onto the Battlefield. Thanks to the ease with which she can gain Flying, she should be able to slowly bring back her decimated team.

Image: Wizards of the Coast / Square Enix

However, Terra was not the one who went searching for her friends in FF6, that was Celes, so of course she’s here too! “Celes, Rune Knight” allows you to discard any number of cards in your hand, and in return allows you to draw that many plus an additional card. This ability gives Terra ample fodder to scavenge the Graveyard to bring some powerful creatures onto the Battlefield which is even better given Celes’ secondary ability. Whenever a creature is brought from the Graveyard to the Battlefield, every creature you control gets a +1 counter to both Power and Life. Even better, this stacks so every turn not only do you increase the size of your army with Terra, but you then increase their strength with Celes.

Expedite the Revival process using these cards

Terra and Celes weren’t alone in their fight against Kefka, so there are plenty of other cards that can help restore the world from ruin. Here are a couple:

Image: Wizards of the Coast / Square Enix

Cyan: Vengeful Samurai is not an easy card to get out given his high cost of 7 Mana, but this can easily be brought down as this number is decreased by one for every creature in the Graveyard. Try to use Terra and other cards like “Gogo: Mysterious Mine, which can become a copy of Terra to quickly get his cost down by adding creatures to the graveyard. Alternatively, since he has a Power of three, he is a candidate for Terra’s Revival. Once he is on the field, he will be incredibly lethal given he gets +1 to Power and Life for every creature that leaves the Graveyard—which we already established, you will do a lot of.

“Rejoin the Fight” is another powerful tool to fill your side of the Battlefield. This card has you mill three cards, then forces all of your opponents (since this is the Commander format, there is usually more than one) to choose one creature from your Graveyard. Those creatures then come back to your side of the Battlefield.

While you’ll be bringing back plenty of cards from Graveyard with this deck, “Anger” is perhaps the only card that should stay there. “Anger” is a pretty weak card, but it has a cool ability that only triggers if it is in your Graveyard. As long as you have a Mountain (which you should), all creatures you control have Haste, letting you quickly put out damage from creatures played from your hand.

Image: Wizards of the Coast / Square Enix

Finally, if things start going really bad, just pull a Kefka and destroy the world using “Ruinous Ultimatum.” This card is incredibly high-cost but allows you to destroy all non-land permanents all your opponents control. Use it to help reset the board or pull even farther ahead.

These are just a couple helpful cards in this pre-constructed deck, but there are plenty of other interesting and fun options that help you move creatures from your hand or deck to the Graveyard and then to the Battlefield. Keep experimenting and try out all kinds of other cool combos and plays, and you will restore the world from Ruin in no time.

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June 24, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

There’s a fantastic, fan-made Sonic fighting game in the wild, and you can play it right now

by admin June 24, 2025

Did you know there’s a 3v3 Sonic the Hedgehog fighting game? Well there is! It’s called Ultimate Sonic Smackdown, and you can play it right now.

Indie studio Arcforged has released the game to the public for free. In an announcement trailer released today, you can see a variety of Sonic characters duke it out in 2D. All you’ve got to do is join the game’s official Discord server and get playing!

You may have guessed it from the title, but Ultimate Sonic Smackdown is actually a drastic overhaul of an older fan game: Sonic Smackdown. That game was a traditional 1v1 fighter, and has been playable online via Itch.io or at US tournaments for a while now.

Check out the trailer here!Watch on YouTube

This iteration, four years in the making, is a wilder evolution of the game. A tagging system means more hectic fights, more options for offence, and the opportunity to team up your favourite Sonic characters in your chosen squad. It’s the latest in a sparse scattering of Sonic the Hedgehog fighting games, first established by the official, Sega-developed Sonic the Fighters released in arcades in 1996. Its Sega Saturn port was cancelled.

As a tag fighter, Ultimate Sonic Smackdown joins a bizarrely packed collection of similar games coming out soon. You’ve got HunterxHunter NenxImpact coming in July, 2XKO which is bound to come out sooner or later, c’mon guys. Then you’ve got Invincible Vs coming next year, as well as Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls! So suddenly, a style of fighting game that had basically no modern representation is stacked with incoming options.

Sonic has a rich history of fan games. Famously, Sega hired Christian Whitehead to be lead developer on Sonic Mania, following his work on unofficial ports of older Sonic games. There’s also a fan-made PC port of Sonic Unleashed which is rad, and a 16-bit makeover of Sonic Triple Trouble from a few years back.

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June 24, 2025 0 comments

Crypto Trends

Ethereum Eyes Breakout Toward $4,204 With Key Technical Formation In Play

by admin June 24, 2025

Trusted Editorial content, reviewed by leading industry experts and seasoned editors. Ad Disclosure

Given the heightened volatility observed in the general crypto market during the weekend, Ethereum once again lost the $2,500 price mark, which led to a notable pullback close to $2,200. However, ETH has not fully lost its potential to rally as technical developments hint at a major rebound in the upcoming days.

Key Pattern Signals A Sharp Rally For Ethereum

Ethereum is battling with growing bearish pressure after losing the $2,500 mark a few days ago. ETH’s price may have witnessed a sharp pullback, but Rose Premium Signals, a crypto analyst, is confident that a rebound could be underway.

In the post shared on X, the expert’s analysis on ETH shows that the altcoin is building strength beneath the fall as a key chart pattern begins to take shape. Specifically, Rose Premium Signals has identified a Cup and Handle chart pattern on the 1-week time frame.

A Cup and Handle formation is a bullish technical continuation pattern that suggests a possible bounce toward the upside following a phase of consolidation. Since the pattern often points to a bullish outlook, the expert believes that ETH could bounce back again and surge dramatically to high levels.

An emerging cup and handle pattern | Source: Rose Premium Signals on X

Looking at the 1-week chart, Ethereum’s price is presently retreating from the neckline region at about $2,600. Despite the notable decline, the key chart pattern is expected to trigger a major rally for ETH.

As the cup and handle pattern slowly matures, ETH could be on the verge of a significant upward move that may challenge previous highs. According to Rose Premium Signals, if this zone is successfully recovered, the altcoin may move closer to the key target of $4,204.69.

Is It A Good Time To Purchase ETH?

While Ethereum has retraced, AlienOvicho, a crypto expert and trader, revealed that the altcoin is inching closer to a price range considered a good buying point. After navigating the ongoing price action, the analyst has underlined the buy zone between the $2140 and $1970 range.

As bearish pressure mounts, the $2,140 – $1,970 buying zone is a crucial area where a positive reaction is expected, and is currently being tested by ETH. However, if the bounce does not happen next week, attention will be shifted to the next possible demand zone, which is around $1,800.

This level is consistent with the earlier structure and may provide a more solid foundation for the subsequent move higher if the larger structure holds. Meanwhile, a rebound, which is expected to take place in the upcoming days, would push ETH’s price past the $2,300 resistance level.

At the time of writing, ETH was trading at $2,264, demonstrating a nearly 1% decrease in the last 24 hours. ETH’s price may be facing bearish pressure, but sentiment among traders appears to be improving. Data from CoinMarketCap reveals that its trading volume has increased by over 13% in the past day.

ETH trading at $2,254 on the 1D chart | Source: ETHUSDT on Tradingview.com

Featured image from Pixabay, chart from Tradingview.com

Editorial Process for bitcoinist is centered on delivering thoroughly researched, accurate, and unbiased content. We uphold strict sourcing standards, and each page undergoes diligent review by our team of top technology experts and seasoned editors. This process ensures the integrity, relevance, and value of our content for our readers.

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June 24, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Global Warming Has Made It Too Hot To Play My PS5 Or Switch 2

by admin June 23, 2025

Not long ago, I bought a VR headset in anticipation of the then-upcoming Resident Evil 4 port. (I have a problem, I know.) Since then, I’ve played a good amount of VR. Or rather, I was doing that until it got so damn hot out that now I’d rather do anything but put a hot, sweaty VR headset on my face or sit near a large PC or console pumping out warm air.

Disney+ Pulls The Abyss Over Controversial Rat Scene — Again

Update: 6/23/2025: This story was originally published on August 2, 2021. It was later updated in July 2022 to incorporate European heat waves and other news. It has been updated again to add information about heat waves in Alaska and NYC.

Past summers saw record temperatures across the United States, even in places that have historically avoided such outrageous heat. And these heat waves continue to hammer millions of folks, leading to fatalities. In 2022, Europe suffered through its worst heat wave in history, setting new and dangerous temperature records. The hot weather in 2022 was so bad that Google and other companies struggled to keep servers online as they were failing due to the intense heat. Meanwhile, Valve and Nintendo warned folks that the Steam Deck and Switch might not work properly in these extreme conditions. And now in 2025, parts of Alaska were put under a heat advisory warning for the first time in history. New York City is setting heat records, too, with some schools closing due to the deadly high temperatures. On June 23, NYC was put under an “Extreme Heat Warning,” the highest heat advisory level.

All of this is almost certainly a symptom of the ongoing effects of global warming, which is throwing our entire planet into weather-related chaos and destruction. To put it another way: Shit is bad.

I say all this to make it clear that the incredible heat we are seeing right now is serious and is hurting and killing people. Obviously, the fact that I or others can’t play video games comfortably is very far down on the list of problems caused by global warming. But it is still annoying, and talking to others who are experiencing this heat, it’s clear I’m not alone.

I live in Kansas, where we have luckily been able to avoid some of the higher temperatures seen in places like Seattle, NYC, and the UK. Even still, in this heat, I can’t play VR games comfortably, given how sweaty and uncomfortable the headset quickly becomes. When you factor in that many good VR games ask you to stand, move around and use motion controls, the prospect becomes even less appealing. It’s an easy way to overheat on hotter days like these. It’s a shame because I do like playing VR games like Beat Saber; I just can’t do it while temperatures hover around or over 100.

Photo: Oculus / Facebook

It’s not just VR that feels uncomfortable to play during these abnormally blistering times. More graphically impressive games on my PC cause extra heat to build up in my tiny home office. Consoles also spit out a shocking amount of hot air when you play games that push the hardware. The Xbox Series X, in particular, is very effective at expelling burning hot air at a rapid rate. This is very good for the console, of course. But it also means that I have a mini-jet engine cooking me alive. At least it’s quiet while I melt.

I spoke to some friends who are experiencing similar issues. Some of them are avoiding certain games on specific platforms right now because it’s too damn hot, and because running your AC all day is expensive and bad for the environment. I personally try to limit how often I run our apartment’s AC system, and if I can save some money and electricity by skipping some sessions of Marvel Rivals, that seems like a good trade-off.

And sure, as those folks on that once-popular show often said, “Winter is coming.” Well, first fall, then winter. The point is: Cooler and colder days are not too far away. But as these extreme shifts in weather and climate become more common and more extreme every year, I expect the summer months to become an even worse time to use electronics that produce tons of heat.

Of course, as things get worse, being able to play games comfortably will probably become one of my lower priorities behind things like finding water, staying cool, and fighting off roving bandits hunting down any resources they can find. Still, I’ll miss playing video games.

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June 23, 2025 0 comments

KindlyMD shareholders approve Bitcoin pivot via Nakamoto Holdings merger

GameFi Guides

Pompliano unveils ProCap Financial, eyes $1b BTC play via SPAC

by admin June 23, 2025

Crypto media personality Anthony Pompliano announced the launch of his own BTC-focused company on Nasdaq.

Michael Saylor’s Strategy may soon be getting a big competitor. On Monday, June 23, crypto podcaster and X influencer Anthony Pompliano announced the creation of ProCap Financial. The company will focus on accumulating Bitcoin (BTC) as a treasury asset, giving ordinary investors exposure to it.

Today I am announcing a $1 BILLION merger to create ProCap Financial, a bitcoin-native financial services.

The company will be a publicly traded entity on Nasdaq at the conclusion of the proposed business combination between my private company ProCap BTC, LLC and Columbus Circle…

— Anthony Pompliano 🌪 (@APompliano) June 23, 2025

The company will launch through a $1 billion SPAC merger between his private firm, ProCap BTC, and the publicly traded Columbus Circle Capital Corp. So far, his company has raised $750 million in capital for its Bitcoin treasury bid.

Pompliano also confirmed that ProCap Financial will list on Nasdaq as $CCCM. Out of the $750 million raised, the firm will use $516.5 million to acquire Bitcoin reserves within 15 days of signing, in order to mitigate market risk.

Pompliano’s company to leverage the Bitcoin network

This news comes after reports earlier in July suggested that Pompliano was planning a billion dollar move. In addition to acquiring Bitcoin, ProCap Financial will also develop products that leverage Bitcoin’s network to generate profits over time.

“ProCap Financial will focus on acquiring bitcoin for its balance sheet, while also developing products and services to produce revenue and profit from the bitcoin on our balance sheet over time,” Anthony Pompliano.

In recent months, there has been a growing trend of companies adopting Bitcoin treasuries. The catalyst for the shift was the election of a pro-crypto administration in the White House. Notable examples include GameStop, 21 Capital, and Nakamoto. Collectively, 216 companies currently own nearly 31% of BTC’s supply, accounting for 765,300 bitcoins.

By far the biggest holder among them is Strategy, founded by Bitcoin maximalist Michael Saylor. His firm owns 592,345 bitcoins, worth more than $60 billion. In an X reply to the announcement, Saylor congratulated Pompliano on the move.

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June 23, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Elden Ring Nightreign does actually have a Relic limit, and it won’t let you play until you clear your inventory

by admin June 23, 2025

One of the most interesting features of Elden Ring Nightreign is the ability to modify your character over the course of several runs. That’s something FromSoftware borrowed from other roguelites, and it’s represented in game through Relics.

Relics are bundles of buffs that you attach to your characters to boost their latent abilities, proficiency with certain weapons/spells and more. They offer all kinds of useful bonuses that, when picked correctly, can really complement your chosen class.

That does create a bit of a problem, however.

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Because of the random nature of Relics, Nightreign players are incentivised to keep a storage of them until they need them. For instance, if you never use bows and arrows, and you find a Relic with a really strong bonus to archery, you’re more likely to save it until the moment you try Ironeye, or when you feel like doing a bow-only run.

That, of course, causes players’ storage chests to be cluttered with plenty of Relics waiting to be equipped. Some of them may even be so old that the player has likely received much better versions hours ago without realising.

Nightreign does offer an option to sell off your old Relics for in-game currency, but you get so little of it that most players don’t bother. Until now, when Reddit user Scufozzover1 discovered that the game does, indeed, have a limit to the number of Relics you can hoard.

You can’t play if you have too many relics
byu/Scufozzover1 inNightreign

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In fact, as you can see in their Reddit post, having a full inventory of Relics means you won’t be able to go on Expeditions. Scufozzover1 posted the error message the game throws out, which is not something many players have seen.

Of course, the game recommends using the Relic Rite feature to get rid of the ones you don’t need, which is really something you should be doing regularly as you continue playing and acquiring more powerful Relics.

The reason this took a while to be uncovered is that Nightreign doesn’t actually show an inventory limit for Relics, so players had no idea how many they can actually store. Scufozzover1 says it’s close to 1,000, which is a massive number.

If you’re not Relic hoarding, you probably know better, which means you’re going to appreciate our Elden Ring Nightreign guide. We recently updated it with Remembrance (character quests) walkthroughs for the Executor Remembrance quest, and Duchess Remembrance quest.

And, in case you missed it, FromSoftware recently introduced the first of several harder versions of the game’s Nightlords. The so called Everdark Sovereign bosses don’t just have more health and deal higher damage, they also use new moves against you.

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June 23, 2025 0 comments